Played some midi percussion (from Ableton’s Kit-Core Percussion – Bongo, high & low, and Conga low) and “Old School Roads” organ and set both to loop. I used the quantize feature on both rather than try to edit the midi to correct these particular flaws. Played bass over them – about 6 & a 1/2 minutes worth, a minute & a 1/2 of which can be heard via the link below. I am confident that I’m a beginning to get the feel I want for “All My Flaws” and am hopeful that this is the foundation for the demo.
Have an idea to write “(What’s So Great ‘Bout) Hate, Fear and…” – not sure of the last word of the title yet (“indifference” is not quite correct. A blatant reversal/negative of Nick Lowe’s (What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding. Brought on by the hatred and fear being fomented these days.
First thoughts this morning about proceeding with “All My Flaws” were how the feel/rhythm I want is like that of Rickie Lee Jones’ “Weasel & the White Boys Cool”:
I’m sensing some shades of Van Morrison may be seeping in as well as I posted to Facebook about Van’s “Wild Night” a week or so ago (actually June 24th – yeesh) and have recently read of his influence on both Elvis Costello (from his memoir) & Bruce Springsteen (from an email from my good friend Bill O’Driscoll).
Of course “Gain Staging” made me think of gainsaying from Monty Python’s “The Argument Clinic” sketch (“Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes.”)
I played bass & snare drums, using the 110 bpm that I figured out from the Rickie Lee song above (I even played along with it for a bit), then added a cymbal part. I had a minor victory with the looping of those percussion parts – it allowed me to play just a few phrases & fix them (mostly).
I played guitar, getting used to the slower groove, but forgetting some of my earlier phrasing n the process – and then practiced singing over it.
What I implemented from the above-mentioned article is adjusting the gain on the guitar and vocals to get them into the referenced “sweet spot.”
You can hear the results of all this via the SoundCloud link below.
The other thing that my wife, Liz, suggested when I asked her for suggestions and possible future constructive criticism of my vocal efforts is that I should just sing for an hour weekly. I have not yet implemented, but certainly plan to do so.
A quick hit this morning. The Drawing the Line idea got pushed as I went back to my idea for the “bluesy” All My Flaws. I had Kansas’ “Lonely Street” (from the “Song for America” LP) in my head as I headed up to my studio/office to work the track.
I just wanted to get the initial feel down with the lyrical bits I had so I picked up my knock-around Mitchell acoustic and figured a few chord changes and phrasings and recorded on my phone as evidenced below.
